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Criteria for Onset of Firestorms,
Authors: G. F. Carrier; F. E. Fendell; P. S. Feldman; TRW SPACE AND TECHNOLOGY GROUP REDONDO BEACH CA |
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Abstract:
Quantitative criteria are evolved for onset of firestorms, severe stationary (nonpropagating) holocausts arising via merger of fires from multiple simultaneous ignitions in a heavily fuel-laden urban environment. Within an hour, surface-level radial inflow from all directions sustains a large-diameter convective column that eventually reaches altitude of about 10 km (e.g., Hamburg, Dresden, Hiroshima). As the firestorm achieves peak intensity (2-3 hours after the ignitions), inflow speeds are inferred to attain 25-50 m/s; typically 12 km2 are reduced to ashes, before winds relax to ambient levels in six-to-nine hours. Here the firestorm is interpreted to be a mesocyclone (rotating severe local storm). Even with exceedingly large heat release sustained over a concentrated area, in the presence of a very nearly autoconvectively unstable atmospheric stratification, onset of vigorous swirling on the scale of two hours requires more than concentration of circulation associated with the rotation of the earth; rather, a preexisting, if weak, circulation appears necessary for firestorm cyclogenesis. (Author)
| Pages: |
6 |
| Report Date: |
1981 |
| Contract Number: |
DNA00181C0111 |
| Report Number: |
P408100 |
Report Unavailable |
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